Subway arrival clocks comin' down tracks

Segar / By the end of next month, NYC Transit will activate the clocks at three No. 6 line stations in the Bronx: Longwood Ave., Brook Ave. and E. 149th St.

BY Pete Donohue
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Finally, something straphangers can count on: Long-awaited countdown clocks telling subway riders when the next train will pull up to the platform are about to arrive at some stations.

By the end of next month, NYC Transit will activate the clocks at three No. 6 line stations in the Bronx: Longwood Ave., Brook Ave. and E. 149th St.

The agency then will roll out the new communications system to nearly 150 other stations along the Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 lines, NYC Transit Program Officer Mark Bienstock said yesterday.

The $200 million project should be completed by the end of next year or early 2011, Bienstock said after an MTA committee meeting where the project was discussed.

"One of the most stressful parts of the daily commute is not knowing when the next subway or bus will arrive," MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said. "By providing real-time information we can improve the customer experience."

The No. 7 line is slated to get the communications upgrade as part of another ongoing project. The project was originally supposed to be completed in September 2006 and cost about $170 million. It's now expected to cost about $200 million.

There were problems from the beginning. One major setback occurred when a "fatal flaw" in the software was discovered a year into the project, Bienstock said.

NYC Transit began giving arrival times along the L line in 2007, part of a separate program. It has been displaying bus arrival times along 34th St. since the summer and is looking to expand to the 50th St. route.